Dangerous Christmas!

Greetings everyone,
The Nashville Cohort will gather next Thursday, December 11 from 11:30-1:00pm at the Flying Saucer in the Pool Room:
11 10th Ave. South
(Located Behind Union Station)
Nashville, TN 37203

Topic: We'll attempt to reconstruct the history of Christmas from it's subversive roots in the Bible to it's syncretized expressions in Rome and beyond. Then, we'll discuss how Christmas can again be dangerous in our own time of empire.

Call in your lunch orders by 10:30am to ((615) 259-3039) if you can. The menu can be found here under the "Food" tab (http://www.beerknurd.com/stores/nashville)

Peace,
Dixon

What Are You Wondering This Month

Greetings everyone,
The Nashville Cohort reconvenes this Thursday, November 6 from 11:30-1:00pm at the Flying Saucer in the Pool Room:
11 10th Ave. South
(Located Behind Union Station)
Nashville, TN 37203

This month we're spending time exploring the things we are all "wondering" right now in our lives with God. Our experience of Jesus following in Nashville's culture is unique and often produces interesting revelations and reflections. These are the sessions where we honor that process and share our considerations.

Come with some of your freshest wondering and we'll spend out time discussing that, or anything else that tickles our fancy this Thursday.

Call in your lunch orders by 10:30am to ((615) 259-3039) if you can. The menu can be found here under the "Food" tab (http://www.beerknurd.com/stores/Nashville)

Peace,
Dixon

my book signing...

Hey Cohort Friends,

This is the first time I've written a post on the blog, and sadly, it's a completely selfish one. I just wanted to let you know that tomorrow (October 14) at 7 p.m. I'll be doing a reading and signing of Churched at Davis-Kidd in Green Hills.

I'd love to see you there, if you're able!

Thanks so much...

Matthew

since dixon didn't know of it

i mentioned & dixon didn't know of it. so here ya go buddy. Jesus for President & Red State Update for White House Press Secretary.

Faith and Politics this Thursday at the Cohort

Hey everyone,
The Nashville Cohort reconvenes tomorrow from 11:30-1:00pm at the Flying Saucer in the Pool Room:
11 10th Ave. South
(Located Behind Union Station)
Nashville, TN 37203

We'll be discussing the mission of God as it relates to the politics in the United States using Shane Claiborne's "Jesus for President" as our jumping off point.
It would also behoove us all to take at look at yesterday's Tennessean and note the article about 33 pastors who planned to intentionally endorse a candidate from the pulpit yesterday. Each of these sources will provide us plenty to talk about on Thursday.

Call in your lunch orders by 10:30am to ((615) 259-3039) if you can. The menu can be found here under the "Food" tab.

Finally,
Shane Claiborne will actually be in town this week (we tried to get him to meet with us and he didn't have time) and is speaking at several venues.
Below is a list. Visit each venues website for specifics. Check him out if you get the chance!

Monday, 9/29: Lipscomb University, 8pm.
Tuesday, 9/30: Westminster Presbyterian, 7:30-9:00
Wednesday, 10/1: Belmont University, 10am.

Peace,
Dixon

upcoming events : the great emergence

as mentioned at today's cohort meeting. various folks are associated with a day & half event in early december with phyllis tickle and her latest book "the great emergence." here is a bit of a write up.

The Great Emergence National Event is a unique and freshly designed event built on innovative adult learning techniques including interaction, participation, and inspiring content on the current state of and future possibilities for Christianity.

Around the four main sessions with Phyllis Tickle, participants will also enjoy the daily office—thrice daily times of prayer—based on Phyllis Tickle’s bestselling book, The Divine Hours, in the majestic and historic Cathedral of St. Mary in Memphis, Tennessee, which will be bedecked with Advent greenery.

seems like a few folks are interested in going. maybe we can apply for a 'staff' discount and do some carpool to be in good graces of our checking accounts.

upcoming events : invisible children & outdoor festival

i was sent this from one of my fellow tribe youth ministers. she's actually one of the folks listed on the poster. if you are into the invisible children mission then this is certainly something to be a part of. if you've never heard of the IC then brief yourself and then try it out.

Download Outdoor_Christian_Festival Letter

New Monasticism Conference in Nashville, September 20th

Copying a post from Living the Simple Life:

Come all ye faithful to Nashville, TN, to hear Johnathan Wilson Hartgrove and others explain what the new monastic movement has to say to the larger church. The one-day seminar is based on Jonathan's latest book.

New Monasticism: What It Has to Say to Today’s Church (Baker) is Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove’s introduction to new monasticism and the gifts it has to offer the church in a time a rapid change. Sam Ewell’s Building Up the Church: Experiments in Faith, Hope, and Love (Wipf and Stock) is an interactive study guide based on Jonathan’s book, designed to lead small groups into an authentic engagement with new monasticism.

Otter Creek Church (located at 409 Franklin Road, Brentwood, Tennessee) will host this event on Saturday, September 20th from 8am-6pm. For more information and to register go here.

The Church Basement Roadshow Comes to Town

Hey all,

The Church Basement Roadshow is coming to town tomorrow night!

Come out and see Tony Jones, Doug Pagitt and Mark Scandrette do their thing on

Monday, July 28

6:30pm

At St. Bartholomew's Church (4800 Belmont Park Terrace, Nashville, Tn 37215)

$5

The show will run 90 minutes and should be a blast!

If you have any questions contact Dixon at dkinser@stbs.net.

Peace,

Dixon

Cohort Goes Nuclear This Thursday

Greeting all,
This Thursday at the cohort Tyler Wigg-Stevenson will take us through what needs to be the next "big" issue Christians take up - nuclear disarmament. Tyler is the Coordinator of the Biblical Security Council here in town, and like Fritz last month, he's trying to connect Christians to advocacy on this issue as a spiritual discipline. Come out for a conversation about how the church can take a lead role in tackling this very real crisis.

As usual we will meet in the pool room at the Flying Saucer from 11:30-1:00.
Call in your lunch orders to 259-3039 by 10:30am if you're able.


Also, if you are interested in promoting/assisting with the Church Basement Roadshow when it comes to town July 28 plan t stay after for 15 minutes to have brief conversation.


Best,
Dixon

Article you might want to read

For those that are interested in homiletic issues, I just published an article on a collaborative preaching method I use in my own congregation. You can see the article here, or paste the following into your browser: 

http://www.worshipconnection.cokesbury.com/content.aspx?dyn=1604

Grace and Peace,

Matt...

Emergent Discussion in the local church

Hey friends,

I'm in the midst of a series of Wednesday night presentations concerning movements within the Church. This week, I am doing (possibly part one) of a talk on Emergent.

If you are hip to it, you are invited to come. We have a little Eucharist at 6 pm in our chapel, and the presentation will go from 6:30-7:30 (officially) in our Narthex. Childcare is open to all, so bring the kids.

You can find us at 920 Caldwell Lane, 37204. Our website is www. RedeemerNashville.net if you want more INFO.

Thomas+

Cohort This Thursday

This Thursday the cohort welcomes Fritz Gutwien. Fritz is from the National Council of Churches Eco-Justice Program takes through a conversation regarding Christian environmentalism and how our 'advocacy' for creation care is a spiritual discipline. He's also a friend of Sam Davidson, but we won't hold that against him;)

Here's his Fritz's Bio:

Fritz Gutwein is currently Field Coordinator of the Climate and Energy Campaign at the National Council of Churches, Washington, DC. Prior to joining the NCC, Fritz was the Farm Bill Reform Organizer for the Presbyterian Hunger Program (USA) and Director of Crossroads Ministry of St. William Catholic Church in Louisville, Kentucky. An ordained Baptist minister and Presbyterian elder, Fritz is educated in international and religious studies from the University of South Florida and theology and ethics from Southern Seminary. His travels to Latin America and Africa as well as his experience as a therapeutic foster parent have opened Fritz's eyes to the needs of people living in poverty and have helped to make the spiritual practice of doing justice his life's passion.

Check him out: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/5/123/9B8


As usual we will meet in the pool room at the Flying Saucer from 11:30-1:00.
Call in your lunch orders to 259-3039 by 10:30am if you're able.

See you there,
Dixon

General Conference Blogging

I'm doing some daily blog commentary on the UMC's General Conference (our version of a Synod or Council). My latest post regarding the cell phone gift issue has generated some heat, apparently. Feel free to check it out on "The Truth As Best I Know It".

Grace and Peace,
Matt...

April Cohort and Summer Schedule

Greeting all,
Tomorrow at the cohort author David Dark shares material from his new book The Sacredness of Questioning Everything. Should be sharp indeed!
Bring your thinking cap and we'll get after it tomorrow at the Saucer!

As usual we will meet in the pool room at the Flying Saucer from 11:30-1:00.
Call in your lunch orders to 259-3039 by 10:30am if you're able.

Beyond tomorrow here is our schedule through the summer:

May 8: The Spiritual Discipline of Eco-Advocacy
Fritz Gutwien from the National Council of Churches Eco-Justice Program takes through a conversation regarding Christian environmentalism and how our 'advocacy' for creation care is a spiritual discipline.

Here's his Fritz's Bio:
Fritz Gutwein is currently Field Coordinator of the Climate and Energy Campaign at the National Council of Churches, Washington, DC. Prior to joining the NCC, Fritz was the Farm Bill Reform Organizer for the Presbyterian Hunger Program (USA) and Director of Crossroads Ministry of St. William Catholic Church in Louisville, Kentucky. An ordained Baptist minister and Presbyterian elder, Fritz is educated in international and religious studies from the University of South Florida and theology and ethics from Southern Seminary. His travels to Latin America and Africa as well as his experience as a therapeutic foster parent have opened Fritz's eyes to the needs of people living in poverty and have helped to make the spiritual practice of doing justice his life's passion.
Check him out: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/5/123/9B8


June 5: Spiritual Disaster Preparedness - Jesus and Nuclear Crisis
Tyler Wigg-Stevenson will take us through what needs to be the next "big" issue Christians take up - nuclear disarmament. Tyler is the Coordinator of the Biblical Security Council here in town, and like Fritz, he's trying to connect Christians to advocacy on this issue as a spiritual discipline. Tyler and I met last month and I was blown away with the opportunity the church has to not lay catch up on tackling this very real crisis. Please come out for this one.


July 3: Break


July 26: The Church Basement Roadshow Cohort Gathering *(tentative)*
This summer Tony Jones, Doug Pagitt and Mark Scandrette are doing a group book tour tounge-in-cheekily called the Church Basement Roadshow (http://www.churchbasementroadshow.com/). St. Bartholomew's is hosting the tour's Nashville stop and I am trying to pull together a Cohort "hang" at the Saucer afterward. I'll have more details as they become available.

August 7: TBA


Peace,
Dixon

Emerging Ordination Today at the Cohort

Greeting all,
This Thursday, March 6 the Cohort jumps feet first into a conversation about ordination and the emerging church. Using a panel discussion format with John Plummer Thomas McKenzie and Dixon Kinser to kick start the conversation, we will explore what ordination is, how it's manifest in communities of faith and what it's place is in the emerging church.

Bring your own questions and we'll get after it tomorrow at the Saucer!

We will meet in the pool room at the Flying Saucer from 11:30-1:00 as usual.
Call in your lunch orders to 259-3039 by 10:30am if you're able.


Peace,
Dixon


-------------------------
Dixon Kinser
Nashville Cohort
www.nashvillecohort.blogspot.com

Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove at Otter Creek Church, Thursday, February 28

Hi all. This is the event that I mentioned at the February Cohort. It's open to anyone.

The Otter Creek Church invites you to hear from Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, a founding member of the Rutba House in Durham, North Carolina, on February 28, 2008, at 7:00 p.m. Jonathan, who spent time in Iraq with Shane Claiborne as part of a Christian peacemaking team, will be discussing "Signs of the Times & a New Monasticism." He will touch upon several aspects of the new monastic movement, including the contemplative tradition, service to the poor, nonviolence, and practices of intentional community.

Otter Creek is located at 409 Franklin Road, in Brentwood. You can call the church for more information at 615-373-1782.

Hope to see as many of you there as can make it.

John York at the Cohort this Thursday!

Greeting all,
This Thursday, February, 7 the Cohort welcomes John York for a conversation about Relational vs. Judicial Faith.
John is a NT and Homiletics professor at David Lipscomb's Hazelip School of Theology and co author of several books including
The Jesus Proposall and The Jesus Community.

He'll be presenting material from the latter of these two, connecting it into the ever controversial "New Perspective of Paul". Should be great!

We will meet in the pool room at the Flying Saucer from 11:30-1:00 as usual.
Call in your lunch orders to 259-3039 by 10:00am if you're able.


Peace,
Dixon

Tony Jones at the Nashville Cohort, 2:00 Wednesday 1/30

Hey all,
We got the schedules worked out and Tony is going to meet with the Nashville Cohort on Wednesday January, 30 at 2:00pm!

We'll gather in the pool room at the Flying Saucer as usual (11 10th Avenue South Located behind the Union Station hotel Nashville, TN 37203 (615) 259-3039).

Hit me back if you have any questions, otherwise we'll see you there.

Peace,
Dixon

Tony Jones in Town Jan 30

Hey all,
Tony Jones (executive director of Emergent Village) is in town next week, Jan 29-30 for a speaking gig at Belmont. He wants to connect with the cohort while he's in town and it looks like sometime around lunch or the early afternoon on the 30th is going to be the best time.

Whatever we do, it will be at the Flying Saucer in the pool room.

He's still waiting on Belmont to give him his full schedule and I'll keep you in the loop as soon as I know more.

That's all for now.
Peace,
D

Cohort Gathers This Thursday, January 10

Greeting all,
This Thursday, January 10 the Cohort will gathering for another session of "What are You Wondering?"
Part of the excitment and vitality of the emerging church conversation comes from way it is contextually driven. That means our wonderings here in Nashville regarding missional life, emerging church and theology etc. are as important than aything being generated at conferences, in books or by others elsewhere.

So, come out this week with your freshest wonderings, we'll pass the anonymus question basket and see what comes of it.

Meet in the pool room at the Flying Saucer from 11:30-1:00 as usual.
Call in your lunch orders to 259-3039 by 10:00am if you're able.


Peace,
Dixon